8. Symbiosis

He sat on the usual roof, legs drawn up, arms around his knees. He stared at the moon and stars, which glowed unusually bright tonight. The sky was clear, the wind pleasant on the uncovered skin on his face, the city quiet as crickets chirped in the night.

He was waiting.

Time passed. He waited, and waited, until he got tired of waiting.

Tired of hoping.

He stood up with a sigh, about to turn and head home when he heard it, a tinkling laugh, sweet as a song.

"Leaving so soon, mon minou?"

Chat Noir's head snapped back at the voice, staring up. There, perched on a chimney, was Ladybug, hunched over the edge and flashing him a playful grin.

"We haven't even started patrol yet!" she said with a disapproving click of her tongue.

"Ladybug…?" Chat Noir whispered in disbelief, his eyes wide.

"I can't leave you for a second because you slack off!" Ladybug said with a grin, rising up to her full height with hands on her hips. "Are you ready? Bet you can't catch me!"

She laughed and launched her yo-yo to a nearby building, zipping away after it. Mind reeling and breath catching, Chat threw all logic out the window and followed her, running on all fours to catch up with her as she leapt from roof to roof.

"Too slow, kitty!" she teased, two roofs ahead of him. Her laugh was contagious, and he felt his own mirth bubbling in his throat, chuckling along with her. He couldn't explain what was happening. How was she here? There was something different about her but he couldn't place it. He really didn't care. She was there with him, and it made him so happy!

He laughed brightly, running after her.

She zipped toward the Eiffel Tower, yo-yo coiling around a support beam and swinging around it. Getting an idea, Chat Noir ran in the opposite direction around the Tower and increased speed. Egged on by her taunting laugh, and with a smile of his own, he pounced as she came flying around from the corner.

She gasped as Chat caught her in mid air and they tumbled down the Tower, rolling across the viewing deck until she lay on her back, him on top of her.

"Gotcha!" he said with a grin, his arms on either side of her head, "Who is the slow one now?"

"Cheap tactics!" Ladybug countered, pushing on his face with a hand as she laughed, "Nothing but dirty tricks!"

"You're just mad because I caught you!" Chat laughed, feeling the happiest he had felt in days as he stared down at his Lady, smiling and writhing in protest under him.

"You wish! You cheating cat!"

"My Lady, you are paw-sitively awful." he said with mock sadness. "You wound me."

"Ugh, again with the puns! Get off me!" Ladybug said, trying to sound annoyed but her cover blown by the amused smile on her face. She pushed playfully against his chest, and although Chat would've normally moved away without hesitation, he didn't budge.

His smile disappeared.

He had noticed something; something that had instantly caused his breath to catch and frozen his body in place.

Her hair was down.

Ladybug never wore her hair down.

Chat's mirth disappeared, snuffed out like flame to a candle. Realization dawned on his features, his face constricting in a pained frown.

"You are not real…" Chat said, his voice descending to a whisper as his ears drooped. "You are not really here...are you?"

Ladybug's smile faded as she stopped moving and stared at him with her gorgeous bluebell eyes. She didn't say a word, just staring at him until Chat reached his own conclusions.

His eyes instantly misted over, tears building in the corners of his eyes.

"I miss you," he said, voice hitching, "I miss you so much, Ladybug."

"Chaton," she said softly, reaching up with a hand to cup his face, "I miss you, too."

"It's not the same without you," he whimpered, laying his hand on hers and leaning his face into it, "I can't do this alone. Please come back."

"I can't kitty," she said sadly, reaching out with her remaining hand until she cupped his face with both hands, brushing soothing thumbs over his cheeks. "Not yet."

"When, then?" Chat questioned, leaning down and hiding his face in the crook of her neck, "When?"

"I don't know." she said as his trembling body descended on hers and she hugged him to her. "But I need you to hang on."

Tears streamed down his cheeks as he nuzzled her warm, soft face, a sad purr rumbling in his throat. "I can't. I need you."

"I know, but I need you to be strong. I need you to wait for me. Can you do that, kitty?" Ladybug said softly, stroking his head, "Can you wait a little longer for me?"

"I don't know… I… I…" he sobbed, holding her tighter, unwilling to part with her warmth.

"You're strong. You are brave. I know you can do this, because I know you. You are my partner, Chat. Don't give up," Ladybug pleaded, "Please hold on a little longer for me, Chat. Promise me?"

He released a shaky breath.

"... I promise."

"That's my kitty." Ladybug said with a smile as she pushed him away just enough to make him face her. "It's time to wake up, now."

"No," Chat said, shaking his head vehemently, "Don't go away! Not yet, please…"

"Chat…"

"I don't want you to disappear, please!" Chat pleaded desperately, "I want to stay here with you!"

"You cannot thrive on dreams, minou," Ladybug said sadly, "I want you to live. Who will protect Paris, then?"

"To hell with Paris!" Chat cried, "You are not there! I want you! They took you away from me!"

"But I'm still around, Chat." Ladybug said soothingly, stroking his cheek. "In your heart, you know I am… And when I wake, I want you to be the first face I see, so I need you to live. Got it?"

Chat choked on a sob, "Yes…"

"That's it…" She whispered as she cupped his face and pulled it towards her, lightly brushing his lips with hers, "That's my kitty…."

Adrien snapped out of the dream with a gasp, his lips still tingling. He was nuzzled to his pillow, the surface of which was drenched in tears that had seeped from his eyes in his sleep. He was curled up in a tight ball, clutching the Ladybug doll close to his chest, and still in his day clothes.

He sighed, rolling on his back and wiping his tired, wet eyes.

He remembered passing out last night the moment he got back from the ceremony, so physically and emotionally drained that he hadn't even bothered to change after he detransformed. By the dim light from the overcast sky outside he gathered it was something like 7 in the morning. He was thankful that it was a Saturday, so he could technically sleep in, but his buzzing mind wouldn't allow it now that he was awake.

The dream still swam in his head, taunting him. It had seemed so real. It was also the first time since the accident that he had dreamt about Ladybug in a setting that wasn't her getting hurt or dying all over again. It was actually her having a good time with him, like old times. She also seemed so oddly aware of her situation, consciously talking to him…

A thought filtered into his conscious.

"Plagg?" he called hoarsely.

"Mrr?" came Plagg's reply from his computer desk. He rested inside an empty Camembert container, his eyes looking blearily at Adrien.

"I dreamt with Ladybug."

"Mhmm…" Plagg muttered noncommittally, still not quite awake.

"But she was talking to me; she told me to hang on and wait for her," Adrien explained, raising the Ladybug doll over his head and staring at her beady eyes. "Like she was aware that she was in a coma; aware of how I was feeling."

"Uh-huh," Plagg said with a yawn.

"Can Miraculous holders communicate telepathically?" Adrien asked, a spark of hope igniting.

"No. You can sense each other but you cannot communicate telepathically." Plagg explained with another yawn, "She's just been in your mind all week, that's all."

And just like that the spark fizzled.

"I see…" Adrien said with a sad sigh, letting his arms drop at his sides.

Of course, it would've been too good to be true.

"Stop doing this to yourself." Plagg said, his eyes serious, "You need to control your emotions. You know that."

"You know it's not up to me." Adrien said with a frown, "I can't just stop feeling things. You know how I feel about Ladybug-"

"That's beside the point!" Plagg snapped, "You have to learn to control yourself! There's residual Akuma magic flowing through you, and every time you let your feelings blow up, it takes over. I'm trying to figure this thing out so we can help you but you keep letting your anger flare up and it throws me off!"

Adrien sat up on the bed with a frustrated sigh. "Why are you telling me this?" he said, "Did something happen last night?"

"Not sure. I meant to ask yesterday but you passed out." Plagg said, "Do you remember threatening Hawk Moth?"

"What?" Adrien's eyes widened. "I threatened Hawk Moth?"

"Hm," Plagg narrowed his eyes at Adrien, then flew to the computer, opening up the browser and setting up the Ladyblog's videoplayer to the most recent upload. It was a recording of last night's stream. Adrien stood up from the bed and walked over to the computer. Plagg played the video, fast forwarding to the moment where Chat Noir had passionately addressed Hawk Moth in his speech, his face constricted in anger.

"I… don't remember that," Adrien said in a low voice, "It must have been a second. I don't even remember blacking out at all."

"Interesting…" Plagg said, tapping his chin in thought.

"What's interesting?" Adrien asked.

"I felt it wasn't completely you since I remember your energy going haywire at that moment. I think it was the Akuma filtering through since you were very upset,," Plagg said, "Because even though you definitely dislike Hawk Moth, it would seem that the Akuma inside you backs that sentiment, and it took over during that moment."

"So this Akuma is screwing up with my head but at the same time, it doesn't like Hawk Moth?" Adrien said, raising an eyebrow. "How does that work?"

"Not sure. We need to see Tikki, I need to bounce this idea with her." Plagg said floating around Adrien's head as he thought, "When do visiting hours start?"

"Three hours, tops." Adrien asked, "Though, you know her parents are likely to be there, right? You won't be able to talk to Tikki."

"I'll take whatever chance we get, they can't be there forever. Now go get some breakfast and let's get moving! And get me some Camembert!"

Adrien chuckled. "Yes, sir."

"Hey, I tried calling you yesterday but you didn't pick up. Did you go to the Ladybug memorial?" came Nino's voice from the phone as Adrien took the elevator to Marinette's floor.

"Sorry, I came down with something," Adrien lied softly, his voice barely above a whisper, "I watched the stream, though."

"Poor Chat Noir, man," Nino commented offhandedly, "I'm super impressed he managed to hold himself straight throughout the whole thing… He kinda broke down in the end though."

"Huh?" Adrien said dumbly.

"Marinette's folks came with Alya and I. We waited till like the end, and they like thanked him for saving Marinette and stuff. Dude broke down."

"Oh." Adrien said absently. It was odd hearing Nino speak about something that happened like he was not there when he had been there, he had broken down, and he was actually on the receiving end of that group hug. But Nino didn't need to know that. No one did.

"Well, his partner died, what did you expect?" Adrien said the last bit almost hesitantly.

"Yeah. Must really suck. What a bummer." Nino said, "Alya was super depressed too, but Chat Noir told her that her blog had been useful last night, so she's been like working nonstop to reformat the whole thing to make it more streamlined. It's good to see her all excited about something again, ya know?"

"Oh yeah? That's great," Adrien said with a large yawn, which then turned into coughing. He brought a hand up, covering his mouth with his sleeve until it subsided a few seconds later.

Nino paused on the other end of the line, "Dude, you okay?"

"Yeah, just a cold."

"All right if you say so, but it's been a week, man. You need to get that checked out. Tell your pops to stop overworking you. Get some initiative!"

"Yeah, I'll try."

"Hey, so Alya and I were thinking about going to the movies today, you know, to ease up all the depression. Wanna join? There's this sick thriller showing this week."

"Sorry, I have a photoshoot today. Maybe next week?"

"Dude, initiative!"

"I can't bail on this Nino, you know that."

"Do I need to get akumatized a second time to get you to hang out with us again?" Nino chuckled.

Adrien cringed, his voice dropping into a hiss, "Nino, don't play with that…"

Nino's chuckling stopped. "...It was only a joke, relax."

"Not really the best time to make those jokes," Adrien chastised, frowning, "Chat Noir has enough on his plate with regular crimes to add Akumas into the mix… Don't jinx it."

"Okay man, I'm sorry…" he heard Nino sigh, "Do you know him or something? What's gotten into you lately? You're really jumpy."

Adrien sighed, "No, I don't know him. Look, I'm sorry, I really need to go, I'll talk to you later, okay? Say hi to Alya for me."

"Yeah, whatever suits you. Take care of yourself, and take a chill pill, will ya? Let's do movies next week."

"Yeah, next week, for sure."

Nino hung up just as the elevator doors popped open and he stepped out, walking down the corridor.

What has gotten into you lately?

Nino's question echoed in his head, over and over. What had gotten into him lately? Was his short fuse brought upon by his own exhaustion, or was it a byproduct of the Akuma? These days he wasn't sure anymore. He knew that when the Akuma took over there were lagoons in his memory, but he hadn't spaced out with Nino, so was that all him? Was he reaching his wit's end? Was the Akuma changing him, as he feared?

He sighed. He needed some respite. He wished so hard that his dream would become real. That Marinette would wake, transform into Ladybug, and everything would go back to the way it was. Maybe she could even help him with his problem. Maybe having her around would make the Akuma's presence fade. She was the power of creation after all, maybe her healing presence alone would help him.

His stomach grumbled, and he grimaced against the pain that shot up his stomach. It was definitely not hunger pain. So far, he had been successfully able to keep his breakfast in his stomach, but he could feel it protesting, demanding to be vacated again. He pushed the urge down, really eager to actually get some nourishment.

He had noticed with no little amount of concern while he changed that his ribs had begun to show. It was slightly, and it was only terribly noticeable when he stretched his arms over his head, but he could feel it be the beginning. Even his skin had a paler tinge to it and was becoming dry. He had to get better, and quick. He couldn't let Nathalie notice and go blabber to his father about it. He'd have Adrien checked out, they would deem him too sick, and he'd be forced to be cooped up in the mansion for God knows how long.

And if they saw the scar...

No. He had to pretend, he had to hide. He was thankful that it was the beginning of the autumn-winter season, which made Adrien's sudden interest in long sleeved shirts and jackets normal and inconspicuous. Thankfully, all his photoshoots had involved him modelling his father's Winter Line as well, which covered all his body, including his preoccupying right arm.

He could pretend without issue until summer.

He just hoped Marinette would wake before then.

He reached the door to her room and knocked. After a few seconds, it cracked open and he was met with the face of Sabine, whose lips stretched into a smile at the sight of him.

"Adrien!" she greeted, opening the door and letting him in, "Didn't think any of Marinette's friends would visit at this time. Come in, please!"

"I had some business in the afternoon so I thought I'd come early." Adrien said, bowing his head at her. "It's nice to see you, Madame Cheng. You look radiant today."

"Thank you dear. It's nice to see you, too," Sabine said with a smile, though her eyes then turned sad, "Though I can't help but notice you look tired. Are you alright?"

"Just had a tough time sleeping, nothing to worry about Madame." Adrien said, pulling his lips into the most convincing smile he could muster, though it wasn't particularly hard. He couldn't help having a newfound appreciation for Marinette's family and getting attached to them, becoming especially fond of Sabine and how motherly and welcoming she had been with him. Smiling for her came naturally. "Thank you for your concern."

She laid a hand on his cheek and Adrien had a hard time not jumping at the motion, being reminded of last night. "You are such a nice boy. Thank you for being there for Marinette. She is very lucky to have a friend like you."

Adrien could feel his cheeks turn warm. "I feel very fortunate of knowing her, Madame. Thank you."

"Well now that you're here, and If I may abuse your kindness a bit, there's a favor I need to ask." she said apologetically.

"Anything."

"I actually needed to go fetch some things for the bakery earlier but I couldn't bear leaving Marinette's side. Tom must be having a tough time on his own and I absolutely need to run those errands. Would you mind keeping a watch on Marinette while I'm gone?" Sabine said, "I feel better having someone familiar looking after her. I promise I will be back as soon as I can. I'll leave you my number if anything happens."

Well it seems the unlucky Kwami suddenly got very, very lucky.

Adrien smiled pleasantly. "Of course, Madame!"

"Again, I'm sorry for troubling you with this." Sabine said as Adrien handed her his cellphone and she wrote her number, while he wrote his on hers.

"It's not a problem at all," Adrien said with a warm smile, handing her back her phone, "Please don't worry about it."

"Thank you, Adrien. I will be back soon." Sabine said, "Call me if you need anything." She waved at him and left the room, leaving him perfectly alone with Marinette.

"How are you the spirit of bad luck, again?" Adrien muttered after a moment with a grin. Plagg came flying out of the recesses of his jacket with a smug look of his own.

"Bad luck has been busy having a tryst with you to bother with me," Plagg scoffed, then turned toward the back of the room. "Hey, Tikki!"

In an instant, the red sprite came flying from underneath Marinette's bed to greet them. "Plagg, Adrien, it's great to see you!"

"Hello Tikki, how have you been?" Adrien asked as he dragged a chair to Marinette's bedside and sat down.

"I've been fine. Marinette is doing good progress. I think it's safe to say your assumption was correct, Adrien!" she said, nuzzling Adrien's cheek affectionately.

"And I'm ever so glad to hear that. Thanks for indulging me, Tikki." Adrien said, stroking the red Kwami's head gently. "Any big changes?"

"Oh yes! She is mumbling!"

"Mumbling?" Adrien raised an eyebrow.

"It started last night. I was playing the stream next to her on your phone. She doesn't make a sound, but she's been moving her mouth a lot, as if she was talking to someone."

"Is she now?" Adrien looked at Plagg pointedly.

"Don't give me that. I told you Miraculous holders can't speak telepathically! It's a muscular reflex, lover boy!" Plagg said, crossing his arms stubbornly. "Don't get excited."

"What a party pooper." Adrien pouted, grabbing Marinette's hand and kissing the back of it in his usual greeting. "Hello, Princess." He idly noticed her hand was warmer than he had ever felt it, which brought a smile to his face.

"What's this about telepathy?" Tikki asked, cocking her head in confusion.

"Adrien had a dumb dream last night of Ladybug talking with him and now he thinks Marinette can speak to him in dreams."

"It sounds really dumb when you say it that way, but it didn't seem so at the time." Adrien said, sticking his tongue out at his Kwami.

"Oh, well, I'd have to side with Plagg here. I'm sorry, Adrien," Tikki said apologetically. "Chosens can't communicate in dreams."

Adrien sighed, "That's alright."

"Anyway, that's not important. I needed to talk to you, Tikki." Plagg said, "So did you watch the full stream last night?"

"I did, yes." Tikki turned to Adrien with gentle eyes, "That was a beautiful speech, by the way. I'm sure Marinette would've loved it. It made me cry!"

Adrien chuckled halfheartedly. "Thank you, Tikki."

"Yeah, yeah...The part with Hawk Moth, do you remember it?" Plagg insisted.

"Yes, I remember it. What about it?" Tikki asked.

"Adrien doesn't remember part of it. I think the Akuma took over."

Tikki's face grew concerned, "The Akuma?"

"If that wasn't Adrien then that means that whatever consciousness the Akuma has doesn't like Hawk Moth very much either. What do you make of this?"

"Interesting," Tikki said with a paw on her chin.

"Is this a thing you two do?" Adrien said suddenly, "Like, just go interesting and stroke your imaginary beard like those old, mysterious asian guys in movies that do not elaborate and leave people in the dark?"

"Adrien, shut up."

"Okay."

Tikki giggled. "An Akuma that holds disdain for Hawk Moth can only mean one thing." she said with a knowing nod, "It's adapting."

"Which means...?" Adrien pressed.

"You know how true Akuma victims never remember anything they do while under the influence of the Akuma?" Tikki asked Adrien.

"Yeah?"

"The Akuma completely takes over, using the victim's source of grief as its motivator and acting out on it, but the victim is completely unaware of anything. The villains we see are the Akumas speaking with the victim's voice, using the victim's negative thoughts and memories as a guide for their personality. A doppleganger, if you will. Like when Evillustrator only targeted Chloé and asked Marinette out, even though he was a villain. He was still capable of love because Nathanael loved Marinette and the Akuma reflected that."

"Yeah or Vanisher, who only really cared about bothering Chloé, but not anyone else…" Adrien said, a finger on his chin.

"Exactly!" Tikki said, "The difference here is that when the Akuma completely takes over, it also gives Hawk Moth full control on the victim, so if part of their true consciousness manages to push through the Akuma's grip, he can torture them until they relinquish their hold again."

"Yes, I figured out that much." Adrien said, nodding. "So?"

"I think I've figured it out. Those mental lagoons you get when you get really upset are probably meant to emulate that feeling of unawareness the Akuma victims get, but the Akuma's influence is not strong enough to completely take over you or even allow a channel between Hawk Moth and you to be created." Tikki explained, "But it's still substantial enough, and persistent enough that you act up when you get too emotional. The Akuma residue is adopting your feelings and acting on them like a regular Akuma, but since there's no Hawk Moth to control you, and the Akuma isn't even that strong, you are free to push through anytime and be in full control most of the time."

"So, with no Hawk Moth to rein your true self in, the Akuma is making your feelings its own and only surfaces when you let it, echoing your feelings tenfold. If you hate Hawk Moth, it hates him too. If you care about Alya and Nino, it cares about them, too. If you love Marinette, it loves her, too."

Adrien's eyes widened. "So this means that…"

"Even if you lose control of your feelings because of the Akuma's influence, it's unlikely you will hurt people close to you because the Akuma considers them close, too." Tikki said, "But it will affect how candidly you react to certain situations, since Akuma's do thrive on negative feelings and encourage them, acting as a catalyst."

"That's actually pretty reassuring," Adrien said, "Not hurting people I care about, I mean. At least until we figure out what to do about it."

"Yes. That would also explain why you only seem to lose your temper with criminals and nowhere else. You hate injustice, so the Akuma lends you more emotional strength to deal with it, and expresses it by making you more aggressive."

Adrien frowned. "That doesn't sound very calming. I almost lost my temper with Nino today, so I got a little worried."

"Remember, the Akuma exacerbates your negative feelings. Whereas normal you would only scoff at something, the current you may get more irritated. I would venture a guess that the Akuma wouldn't do anything that would cause harm to come to you in any way though, since it needs you to survive." Tikki explained. "You may have gotten angrier than usual at Nino, but you wouldn't hurt him, and the Akuma wouldn't try to have you hurt him, either."

"So essentially, it's like a parasite?" Adrien said, making a disgusted face.

"I'd choose symbiosis as a more apt description. It needs you to survive, but in return also protects you, in it's own way. I've been watching your streams. I've noticed it improves your reflexes when you deal with criminals, and makes you more calculating and cold where your gentle heart would usually have in it to be more merciful and lenient with people who seek to harm you." Tikki explained.

"I guess that's better than a parasite if it's supposed to be mutually beneficial," Adrien said dubiously , scratching the back of his head, "Have you given it any thought about how we can get rid of it, though? It gives me the creeps just thinking that there's this thing inside me that can spring up at any moment..." Adrien shuddered at the thought.

"I have but one guess, but I would need to check with someone else-"

"Nuh-uh, out of the question." Plagg interrupted suddenly, having stayed out of the conversation so Tikki could explain. "I know who you mean. You know he stays strictly out of our business and we have to respect that. Chosens are not supposed to know about him unless it's really necessary."

"Chosens being influenced by Akumas isn't a normal circumstance, Plagg." Tikki countered, "If anyone knows if something can be done about this, it's him. You've said yourself that Adrien feels different when you transform. We need to nip this problem in the bud before it flourishes and take Adrien to him."

"Who's him?" Adrien asked.

Tikki hesitated. "The man I told you about… the Guardian."

Adrien scowled. "I don't need to see him."

"Don't be that way, please…" Tikki pleaded, "You don't have to give him the earrings, just let him take a look at you?"

"Wait, you already had this conversation?" Plagg asked, "When?"

"He was transformed at the time so you were probably asleep in the suit," Tikki said.

"Or I don't know, maybe I was trying to siphon out a being made of dark magic, hmm?"

"Yes, maybe…" Tikki conceded, "Anyway, I told Adrien about him. He didn't really like the idea because I suggested we return Marinette's Miraculous to keep them safe until she woke up, but he didn't want to."

"I told you, I want them readily available for Marinette! I put them in a safe, so don't worry about it!" Adrien pouted, crossing his arms stubbornly.

Tikki sighed. "Please?"

"No."

Plagg hummed, looking carefully at Adrien.

"Is it really that you want them available or is it because you don't want Marinette replaced?" Plagg asked with a grin. "The Guardian can easily choose another person to be Ladybug, that's not an issue. Plenty of girls in Paris to choose from."

Tikki gasped when Adrien suddenly shot up from his chair, knocking it over.

"What did you say?" Adrien hissed, his eyes narrowed dangerously.

Plagg stared him down with a smirk.

"Adrien, calm down!" Tikki coaxed. She turned on Plagg disapprovingly. "What are you doing!?"

"You are not replacing Marinette!" Adrien said, "Ever!"

"Ah-hah. There it is!" Plagg said, pointing accusingly. "You absolutely stink at this controlling yourself thing! It didn't take much at all to get a rise out of you and for you to let the Akuma surface!"

Adrien's eyes widened as realization dawned on him and he took a step back. "What? I… I didn't..." he stuttered, eyes flitting from Plagg to Tikki in worry.

"Okay, now we are definitely going!" Tikki said, shaking her head, "We absolutely need to stop this before it gets out of hand! Please!"

Adrien's features softened in shame and his shoulders sagged. Plagg's suggestion had really triggered something in him. He had felt irritation at the mere implication that Marinette would not be Ladybug anymore, but before he knew it, irritation became rage in the blink of an eye. He had been completely aware of his anger, but had done nothing to stop it from escalating. It had felt… natural.

But now he realized that was not him. He did not snap. Not that way.

If he could not tell when the Akuma was influencing him and when it was not, then Adrien feared the worst.

It was changing him.

Adrien sighed. "Alright. Look me over, then I leave…" Adrien said in defeat.

"Why do you hate him anyway? You don't even know him!" Plagg said cocking his head.

"I have my reasons," Adrien huffed. "Not that it matters. We'll go see him tonight, then. Let's get this over with."

"Hello?"

It was the dead of night, and Chat Noir walked into the seemingly empty massage room; a quaint little room with a massage mat and an assortment of Chinese paraphernalia and decoration. It was cozy, permeated with the smell of incense and bathed in warm candlelight.

He had found the establishment to be open despite the CLOSED sign outside. The lobby was deserted but Tikki had assured him that it was completely fine to enter without explicit consent from the owner. She then led him down a dimly lit hallway to the little room he stood in now, where he was met with silence.

"Coming as Chat Noir was really not necessary." Tikki commented, floating beside his head. "He knows who you are. He chose you."

"Safety precaution."

"He's an old man…"

Chat stared pointedly at Tikki, his brows knitted into a frown.

Tikki sighed, "Alright, if it makes you feel better."

"Hello?" Chat called again, knocking on the open door.

Silence met him. There were but a few candles lighting the otherwise dark room, but the flame on the wicks barely stirred with the breeze filtering through an open window on his left.

"Tikki, are you sure this is the pla-"

"Hello, Adrien."

Chat jumped with a yelp, turning on his heel to find a short, Asian old man standing in the doorway behind him, holding a tray with a pot of tea and some cups in it. His red hawaiian shirt really stood out in stark contrast with the otherwise meditative, sober design of the place.

The old man smiled. "My name is Master Fu. To what do I owe the pleasure, M. Agreste?"